Ancient Beginnings

[Ælex]

Nudging the door open with one paw, Faelan entered the castle and looked about. The building was warm and welcoming, despite its decrepit state. The torches illuminating the hall were a welcome change as well. Pacing around a bit, the magi hatchling finally caught glimpse of Raiden, lying down by the entrance and covering his head with both paws.

 

Approaching him quietly, Faelan nudged Raiden with his paw a few times and asked sheepishly:

'Uncle Raiden? Please wake up...

'Nrrrgh, can't a guy get some rest? Who are you, who sent you, speak up!

 

'I..-Faelan shrunk back a bit- ..pa said I have to show you this. -the little magi took its ring off and placed in on the ground.

 

Raiden gave it a look-over, picked it up and read the inscription.

'But... this is Jarvis' ring. He'd only hand it over if he.. -the neotropical shut himself up instantly, trying to keep a straight face.

'Jarvis... Nari... gods no.

 

'You should have this back.. -Raiden dropped the ring in front of Faelan- ..and settle in. This is where your dad meant for you to stay until you're ready to leave, if you wish.

 

'But they'll come back, ri-Get some rest.. -Raiden cut him off and went back to pretending he's asleep.

 

====================================

 

'I think... -Ashur squinted a bit- That he'll be just fine.

He then glanced at the sky for a moment. The sun was rising and the morning birds were already starting to break the night silence.

...we should return to our duties. But before that. -he got up and pondered for a moment. Was this a smart thing to do? It was so early in the morning after all...

 

'Screw it. Care for a drink? It'll help forget the little incident that happened between us. That and the stash must be ancient by now. It'll be the brew of the gods, it will!

Edited June 3, 2012 by Ælex

[CYDA LUVA83]

Lydia looked up at the sky, wondering if something would happen now that Ashur mentioned the brew of the gods. Like a giant keg of ale comes up from the ground. After all, if the goddess Cydae was watching them, why not Jamie? Fortunately, none such event happened. She looked back down at Ashur and nodded. "Sure, I'll take a drink. Ale would be nice, or a cocktail... I don't really drink, so I don't know what types there are, to be honest. I'll take your recomendation."

[Ælex]

'You know, back in the old clan we had this thing... -he spoke while leading her towards the castle- ..a kind of family habit. My grandpatron taught me it. It's to serenade every amended friendship with either a meal or a drink. Once when the dispute with one of the other lineages had ended, the whole two families gathered in the central field. They brought ale and freshly caught game and spent hours just conversing, drinking and eating. -he went on and on as they entered the castle and went inside the kitchen- 'Pardon me... -he excused himself and retrieved one of the barrels of ale from the storage area and snatched two mugs as well- 'So after it's over, granddad handed me a small mug of ale and told me, Ashur.. have a sip. You may be young, but this is important. Benny, your uncle Benny, bless his soul finally ended this crapfight we've been having with the Shimmerstrike lineage. -he dropped the barrel by the castle entrance and opened the lid, filled both mugs and handed one to Lydia- 'So remember, he told me. A friend is best remembered with a belly full of mead than just a couple of words. So you know what you do, you raise a mug in their name, and you say... -he made the appropriate gesture- 'Pour ta' sante. Because in all seriousness, everyone else's depends on it. Edited June 3, 2012 by Ælex

[CYDA LUVA83]

Lydia only followed Ashur, listening to his tale and trying not to be overwhelmed at it. Boy, it sounded like living in Medieval times was great... Yet here they were two hundred years later, sipping ale while two humans conversed what probably was their ill fate, while the gods were probably thinking of ways to screw them over, and while almost every other day they were under a fire of bullets. Well, might as well enjoy the mead while they had it. She took her mug and downed the glass within a few seconds, parching the thirst she had.

 

"This probably tastes even better because I'm thirsty... Nope, cannot drink the pond water, always gives me a headache. But there's this waterfall you should go to, you probably already know about it. But it's about a hundred miles north of here...

"A rocky island in the middle of a sea of ice, a frozen lake except near the waterfall which is actually a giant hotspring. Great for healing purposes and days when you need to get away." The white dragon took her mug and refilled it, taking another sip of the ale after she had done so.

Edited June 3, 2012 by CYDA LUVA83

[Ælex]

'Well there's plenty more where that came from.

Drowning his mug, Ashur poured himself another one and arched an eyebrow.

'I don't know about any place like that.

An island in the middle of a frozen water basin? And a waterfall in it that produced hotspring-temperature crystal-clear waters only at its base and nowhere else? That sounded ridiculous! It defied the laws of physics on every end! This, Ashur had to see for himself... but a hundred miles?!

'Soundsh great. But a hundred miles? I doubt that was so good on an injured dragon'sh back.

That's a long way to fly or walk...

Edited June 3, 2012 by Ælex

[CYDA LUVA83]

"Well.. it'sh really... a giant... just a very, very hot waterfall." Lydia stammered as she took another swig. Never really one to drink at all, the achohol was getting to her. The only drink she ever had was a sip of wine. "You know... We should go there an-... We could just teleport there... Those paintings in the library, one of them leadsh to the waterfall." She lay down and looked at her mug of mead, what was it doing to her head? The dragon felt as if she would topple over at any second. "The other side of the portal is a rock. The thing is... you gotta know which rock it is... if you wanna go back to here."

Edited June 3, 2012 by CYDA LUVA83

[Ælex]

'So much for the mead. -Ashur shoved the empty barrel aside.

'Too much of a good thing, ya know... -Ashur dropped his empty mug in the barrel and sighed deeply. Sure everything seemed alright for that blissful moment of drunken haze, but in all honesty...

 

'Shorry, I had no idea it was this shtrong. -he covered his face with his palm- This place you mentioned, let's stop by, sober up and get back aftersh. Whaddya think?

 

The main reason for that suggestion being that he'd never hear the end of Varaug's remarks if he was found intoxicated. Especially since he'd already given the magi a reason to think he's irresponsible. Two reasons... nay, three.

 

Lydia herself looked pretty smashed as well.

The reasons would be five if someone caught wind...

[CYDA LUVA83]

"Alright. Let's... go. Just gotta get through the paintings. I could use a swim in the hot water, that cold water in the pond is... cold." She stood up and started to walk to the library, staggering a bit every now and then. When she go to the library, Lydia looked around for the painting that led to the waterfall "Heeeerreeeee we go." She said as she pulled a portrait of a random dragon off of the wall and set it on the floor. "When you go through, you're gonna be underwater, so hold your breath and shwim... up." Lydia pointed her claw upwards for emphasis about swimming up. "So.. now all you have to do... is fall through it."

 

((I have no clue how a drunk person acts...

 

ALEX, I'M NOT GOING TO SLEEP ANYTIME SOON. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, POST, MAN, POST! D: ))

Edited June 3, 2012 by CYDA LUVA83

[Krissi2197]

Keisha smiled and shook her head with a chuckle. "Doom, don't do that. Fancy doesn't go together with you... Especially with you acting like a hatchling almost 24/7." She lied down and began to chew on the meat, almost groaning because she forgot what good food tasted like. It took all of her strength to eat like a lady, not digging in and getting meat everywhere.

 

"Uh, Doom..." She looked up at him. "What are we gonna do about your father?"

[Ælex]

'You know what they say, ladiesh first! -Ashur grinned and pushed Lydia and himself straight through the portal. He ended up in the water as expected, although the sudden shock of going from still air to being submerged was keeping him from telling if it was freezing cold or scolding hot.

 

He wasn't frozen yet, so that was a good sign.

The grey surfaced as quickly as possible, a wee bit refreshed and a tiny bit more sober for it too.

 

'Well blow me away, she was right. The area looked exactly like she described. The patch of land they were on was completely surrounded by ice as if they were in the Arctic. Having barely ever seen snow or ice, this was, to say the least, fascinating.

 

=====================================

 

'Is that the 'Living King of Death'? -Faelan asked the big black dragon inquisitively. He was sitting on one of the shelves, unsure how he'd even gotten there.

 

'He's your dad? He must be really old! But if he's king of death, then I guess he can't die, or can stop himself from dying, right? What magic does he use? Did he age and not die or not age at all? Why hasn't the void destroyed his soul yet? Where is he now? What are you supposed to do about him? What's your name? -he babbled all that out in ten seconds flat.

Edited June 3, 2012 by Ælex

[CYDA LUVA83]

Lydia yelped as she was pushed through the portal, almost forgetting to hold her breath. When she appeared on the other side of the portal, in her drunken state she forgot to look back and make a mental note of where the rock was and what it looked like. She let the water carry her up to the air, letting out her large inhale when she broke the rippling water's surface. Lydia looked around, everything looked like it had the last time she visited. The white dragon swam through the water and tackled Ashur playfully. "Booyyyy... Is it steamy in here or is it the fact that there's a collection of scalding hot water in a zero degrees enviroment?"

Edited June 3, 2012 by CYDA LUVA83

[Ælex]

'Nah, it's just steamy. Dammit, you were right!

This place is awesome! -they grey looked around. It was still so damn early in the morning... yeah, plenty of time.

He tackled Lydia back and continued...

'The solitude of this place is overwhelming. Great for chillin' no pun indented, or other things... -he remarked with a slight smile.

 

===============================

 

And then Alekks appeared in front of the screen, smoking a pipe and wearing a suit.

'Ladies and gentlemen, drink responsibly. And if you're going to drink IRRESPONSIBLY, at least import your drinks. As we all know, the brew is always better somewhere else. This has been your god of the universe with a public service message. -and he then stepped away.

 

===============================

 

'There it is again... -Varaug's ears perked up.

'Why here of all places? Isn't there some other civilization out there for them to pester? -the magi scowled and looked up at the skies. He found the presence of the gods in their area quite upsetting.

'I guess we gotta wait for one of our english-speakers to be done with their business. Watch out by the way, we're in for more than one crapflood soon methinks. -he hoped sincerely that he was wrong, but with Cydae or James around, it was almost certain. What made things worse was he didn't even know how to prepare. Not knowing what to prepare for does that to ya'.

Edited June 4, 2012 by Ælex

[CYDA LUVA83]

"Thatta boy, Alekks! Show 'em how to be responsible!" Cydae cheered. After seeing Latou in the Pool of Visions, she had plucked a Fate web from the pool and broke it in two before connecting each piece to Lydia and Ashur's fate. No matter how wrong messing with free will was, she loved it. And even though she probably just lost an acolyte, it didn't matter. The red dragon then tried to compose herself and be serious again, though it failed miserably, the end result being her falling backwards and laughing out loud.

[Ælex]

Alekks couldn't help it, he walked up and took a look into the Pool of Visions.

'What are you... -he halted himself and briefly covered his face with his palm when he got a clear view- ...doing... -he sighed, turned around and walked away.

 

'At least it proves my point... -he sat down, disappointed. If anything, at least he was certain this shenanigans would soon end. It hadn't lasted long before, ever.

 

'I bet you'd be a laugh riot down there Cydae, I really do. -he started up- ...I bet you'll be the bee's knees for everyone you meet with antics like that. They'll just line up to give you hugs, you know. -he went on with overbearing sarcasm.

 

'In fact... -he stood up and shot her with a glare- If you're so bored, then how about a challenge, eh? You go down there, in a mortal's shape that won't give away who you really are. You won't use any abilities they can't use, and you will not reveal your identity in any way. The challenge is simple. Convince every one of them to openly admit you're their friend. If you change your shape or do anything that any of them cannot before completing your goal, you'll have failed. -Alekks grinned at the concept- Or is that too much for the all-powerful goddess of wrath to handle? A simple task that most any mortal with a brain and moderately good attitude can accomplish, stumping the legendary Cydae?

Edited June 4, 2012 by Ælex

[CYDA LUVA83]

Cydae blanched at the thought of venturing down into the mortal world, something she had only done in a dream. A dream about attacking and killing a dorsal dragon who had cheated death. But never had the goddess been there, only watching from the pool. She stood up on her hind legs and crossed her forelegs, curling her neck back. "Challenge accepted..." Cydae took a breath, preparing herself for her next statement. "But you have to come with me. And you have to follow the same terms."

Edited June 4, 2012 by CYDA LUVA83

[Doomkaiser]

Doom was about to answer Keisha when Faelan blasted the questions at him. "Axun jaci ulph sia opsola, thric batobot type di arcaniss ui ergriff used ini wer ithquenti, jaci uses wer arcaniss di whedabra coinah, jaci jahus loex zyak jaci tira ti grapwol, wer amuul tira ti svent jacida sepa tagoa coi ui vi dick, jaci ui shafaer jacida idol tenpiswo, si tir ti vucot svabol yth shilta tir vur sia ominak ui Doom Jericho." He said, in a language that was neither draconic or any other known at the time. "When you figure it out, tell me." He said, hitting him with his tail as he returned his attention to Keisha. "I don't know...He'll be stronger than when we defeated him..." He said, his head hung low.

----------------------

James turned around, his eyes red from when he had been crying for some reason earlier. "I don't know, even though I have a suspicion it was that blasted god that's been following me since I left Spain." He said, cursing Jamie as he looked up to the sky.

Jamie smiled and disappeared. "That's not how you should talk to someone who's been protecting you since you were a little boy." He said as he appeared infront of James and Ellen, smiling mischeavously. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I must be going, nice hat by the way." Jamie said as he poofed back to the room of visions.

Jamie ripped the weird vulture hat off his head and looked at Ellen. "You saw that too, right?" He said, his voice cracking slightly from the tiredness.

[Ælex]

'Ack! -the hatchling squeaked when Doom struck him.

It didn't hurt all that much, but he was so little and Doom was so much larger.

He shrunk back a bit on the floors and said: 'Whoever he is, I'll bet he's a tad' nicer than you. -then ran off.

 

Out of the kitchen and through the main gate.

The early morning rays were getting brighter, and being on solid forest-less ground for a change meant sunbathing. Blissful warmth, he missed it so. Lying down, Faelan relaxed and let the sun rays do their thing.

 

===========================================

 

'I'm not the challenged one here, you are! -he said when James reappeared in the room. Alone to bare James' antics?

'Actually that does sound like fun! -he changed his mind at an instant.

'Well, I doubt a griffon would be much of a good idea to go as, their species has almost completely died out on Earth... nevertheless, I'll see you down there. -he said quaintly and disappeared.

Edited June 4, 2012 by Ælex

[CYDA LUVA83]

Ellen turned to James, disbelief on her face. Up until now she had been a devoted Christian. "Who was he...? You said something about a god."

 

~~~~~

 

Cydae teleported a quill and parchment over to her, intending on leaving a note for Caern and Kryssy. Mostly she wrote about how she and Alekks were performing an experiment on mortals and wouldn't be back for a while, how to contact them through the Pool in case they forgot, and what medicine Jamie should take before he goes to bed to calm down his random. After she rolled the note up and placed it in a proctective shell that under no circumstance that Jamie could break through, Cydae changed her form to that of a pink dragon.

 

This particular pink dragon was one who worshipped her many, many years ago before she was brutally murdered. Cydae had always admired Mairead for her strength in battle. The pink dragon had always chosen her mates and never let them choose her. No, she had fought instead of the males. The tomboy pink dragon was the perfect form, Cydae had thought, albeit much smaller than her normal form. She jumped into the Pool of Visions and swam down to the bottom of the twenty foot deep pool. Using her claws, she used her magic to open a portal to the realm of mortals. She swam through the portal and appeared at the bottom of the pond in the Grounds.

 

She closed the portal and swam to the surface, exhaling a huge amount of air. She was not used to being in such a dainty form. While in their normal forms, the gods did not need to hold their breath, so this was new. She climbed up on the bank and shook the water off, a tad cold. Now where was Alekks?

[Doomkaiser]

James sighed, looking up at the sky. "HEY, JAMIE, GET DOWN HERE, WE NEED TO TALK."" James screamed at the sky, wondering if he actually would come. Jamie, upon hearing this, took it as a challenge. "You called, my Homo-Sapien friend?" Jamie said as he appeared in a puff of green smoke. "You must be Ellen, pleasure to meet you." He said, snapping his fingers, causing a hand to come out of nowhere and shake Ellen's. "Now, what is it, I'm busy with random." He said, getting slightly annoyed.

---------------------------

Doom felt something strange. "Woah, that's weird..." He said, the tingling sensation he had aquired running through his body again and again until it finally stopped. He shivered and continued to slowly eat his meal.

[Ælex]

'Right here. -Alekks said cheerfully, somewhat overjoyed to leave that accursed realm of theirs and mingle with others. One does tend to get stir-crazy. Even someone like him.

 

'You know... -he said and unfolded his wings- One can get used to this. -he gave himself a look-over to see if he'd missed anything. Adorned with scales as black as the cosmos, talons long and sharp like meteorite tails and a multitude of stars and nebulae scattered across his wing membrane, he couldn't help but grin and nod- This I like. What other form to take than that of a nebula dragon?

 

'So, a pink. Ironic. Albeit, they aren't the most docile of species. Shall we? -he gestured towards the castle.

[CYDA LUVA83]

"Ironic? Hardly! Pink is a very manly colour, quite tough if you ask me." She looked him over, everything seemed alright. "Well, you certainly look as if you were made from my tears, but can you ACT the part? We shall see..." When Alekks gestured to the castle, Cydae nodded and started to walk towards it, not being able to help but glance over at the ruins.

"It's a damn shame those demons destroyed this place, perhaps while we're here we can lend some otherworldly help to rebuild that castle. A true castle, fit for ten kings.

"Hell, I'm sure it would fit even Kryssy's standards of high living. Think about it... this castle restored to its former glory. If we did then they wouldn't have to live in this... glorified... hut. Shame, really."

The goddess of war looked around, once she was sure no one but her and Alekks were up and about, she pointed her claw at the large pile of rubble was about to send a bolt of reconstruction magic to the ruins. That is, she was until she remembered a part of Alekk's challenge: 'You won't use any abilities that they can't use.'

Cydae sighed and put her paw back down on the ground. This was going to be a lot more difficult than she thought.

"The only thing that would ruin this trip is if a human raid happened..." She looked over at Alekks curiously. "If a human raid does happen... Can I just say that I'm stronger? I won't shed my current form for my real one."

 

~~~~~

 

Ellen looked at the god, competely bewildered. What the heck was going on?!

[Ælex]

'We'll see. -he shrugged while they walked, pondering her suggestion.

'Otherworldly help... While it saddens me to see anyone live in ruins, and while both of us can help with changing that, I don't see it right involving ourselves in the affairs of these or any mortals excessively. -he commented, slowing his words as move of the ruins came into his line of sight. And what a pitiful sight it was indeed.

 

'Then again... you might be right. They are being bombarded with so much bull, that they could use some otherworldly assistance. I mean, human platoons, a deranged maddragon, the constant fear of more demons... -he wanted to drop resentful comment about Cydae's messing about with their free wills but held it back- Still, the rules are rules. If we help them, it'll be with no more than what they are capable of themselves. -he said firmly.

Edited June 4, 2012 by Ælex

[Doomkaiser]

Jamie smiled at Ellen. "Listen, not to crash on your parade, but there's more than one god, and out of the gods that are there, I'm Jamie, the God of Random (Jerky) Occurences." He said, smiling, poofing away in his normal puff of green smoke. "I'll talk to you later James, I have other things to attend to." Said Jamie's voice, coming from above.

James stood there, bewildered. "That was...strange." He said, looking at Ellen. "Now what do we do..." He said, his hand moving slightly towards his tomahawk, eyes lighting up with determination. Jamie looked down from above, his puppet strings controlling James' movements. ""Ooooo this'll be fun." He said, snickering to himself.

[CYDA LUVA83]

Cydae sighed, her wings drooping. "Alright then. Well, let's go meet the mortal folk!" She cheered, trying to brighten the mood a little. The pink dragon walked up to the fort door and gave it a knock. Although it came off more as a bang because the goddess didn't know her own strength when it came to mortal bodies. "Helloooo~ We're here to repair your shower drain!" She shouted.

 

~~~~~

 

Ellen scooted back away from James. She didn't like the look in his eyes and the hand on his tomahawk. Glancing over her shoulder, she noticed her broken rifle out of the corner of her eye. It was within reach. It couldn't fire, but it would hurt if someone got hit with it. She reached her hand backwards slowly, unnoticeably, until her fingers gripped the barrel.

[Lato_Dato]

Latou sighed, reclining among the ruins of one of her old shrines, reclaimed by the forest. Ever since she had enlisted the help of that little Fey to stop a magically powered forest fire, she had found herself more at home here than her usual area of residence, back in the castle of the gods. She supposed it was because she didn't have that idiot god of random following her everywhere and being a jerk. She hadn't had much of that in the past hundred or so years, so she presumed they had forgotten about her presence; she was normally a ninja like presence about that place anyways, preferring to stay out of the way in case Jamie decided he was feeling in a pesky mood that day. No way she was going back to that! She was content here, among nature and in her element, taking care of the land. No humans were going to even touch this forest on her watch!

Suffice to say, humans had figure d to keep away from here, considering it cursed despite it's radiant, sparking beauty. Nobody had the smarts to put two and two together and get Latou!

She had to wonder why Jamie had made the humans so goddamn stupid...

=======================

Fiyara frowned, annoyed at the invisible speakers. She decided then to just ignore them, and forge forwards to that task at hand. In this case, the human. She had not heard of any humans getting to the grounds; she was waaay behind on her news. Maybe she wasn't quite cut out to be Guardian of the Grounds..? She had heard the old one had come back. Maybe she could ask her for hints, tips and advice?

Lord knows she needed it!

=========

Dvaros flinched at the loud banging of the door, and glanced at it nervously. Whoever was on the other end was sure making a racket. Broken showertaps? did they even have a shower? She inched the door open, peering outside at the commotion. A pink dragon and a nebula. He stared for a moment in confusion, still pondering about the shower drain.

"Uhh, we don't..." He started helplessly, shaking his head at the both of them. He felt oddly intimidated by the pink...

"We don't have any broken shower drains." He finished lamely, his face a frown.

Edited June 4, 2012 by Lato_Dato